ESL Curriculum

Information You Can UseESL Civics CurriculumESL-Civics Curriculum Designed for Very Beginning ESL Learners

We have created a variety of products related to the Bright Ideas project. These include learning materials, tips for teachers, and assorted papers of use to teachers, policy makers, and other researchers in the field. Curriculum materials for 16 ESL-Civics units are posted and available for download. The topics for these units came out of discussions with students, focus groups, and needs assessments. They were specifically targeted for senior immigrants and refugees who had little English and often limited educations in their home countries. However, the materials can be utilized for a wide range of ESL learners.

The Bright Ideas curriculum was designed for elderly learners participating in community-based ESL programs. The curriculum focuses on developing oral English communication skills and providing opportunities for learners to use these skills inside the classroom and outside in the community. The units reflect the interests of the learners as they emerged from conversations with students, focus groups, and needs assessments. Each unit contains step-by-step instructions for the teacher, lessons for the students, and visual support materials to facilitate learning for students who have few literacy skills in English and in the native language. The units may be taught in any sequence. (All units are in MS Word format).

CLESE – We are our 54 Members!

CLESE incorporated in 1989. Our founding members served as an early advisory council to the Chicago Department on Aging’s ethnic elderly needs assessment in 1987. CLESE continues improving the lives of Limited English Speaking Elderly with advocacy, leadership and education. CLESE continues to grow and serve a larger community in 2014!